Easy Potluck Rigatoni Recipe

I had to cook for a potluck last weekend and knew that the food would be out on a table in a warm room for a few hours. I wanted to make something big enough to feed many and didn't want anything with eggs or meat in it just in case the room got a bit too warm.
Read more I also wanted to find something economical and easy to prepare and this is it! You would never miss the meat in this baked rigatoni. I found everything I needed in a restaurant supply store and baked the whole thing in a huge turkey pan. It fed at least forty and a few more as people kept coming back for "seconds." See less

How to make it

Sprinkle half of the cheeses over the top and mix well into the pasta.

Pour one can of the pizza sauce over the pasta and mix.

Add half of the spinach leaves and mix into the pasta.

Make another layer, using the rest of all of your ingredients, mixing well.

Place in oven and bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and cover with aluminum foil and place back in oven.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for one hour to make sure that the pasta and sauce is cooked thoroughly.

After one hour, remove foil and bake until the top is golden brown.

Remove from oven and serve or let it "set" for an hour. If you let it 'set" then replace the foil.

This can be served hot or at room temperature.

**For a more frugal recipe, you can use canned tomato sauce and add some Italian herbs and/or oregano instead of the canned pizza sauce. I found the pizza sauce in the large cans at a restaurant supply store for only $1.49 a can (28 oz can) which is a great price. Stores like that also sell 4 pound bags of rigatoni for a few dollars. The whole large turkey pan of rigatoni cost me under $20.00. (The cheese was the most expensive ingredient.) To cut the cost on cheese, grate a large piece or you can use cottage cheese. If you use the cottage cheese, use 2 pounds of cheese and let it sit in a strainer to remove most of the liquid for at least an hour. Then add it to the pasta as described above.

**You can add more vegetables such as chopped zucchini, black olives, eggplant, canned and drained tomatoes. You can also add a few pounds of meat for a regular baked rigatoni dish.)

Perfect, perfect and perfect!!!!!! Annie, my beau can't eat beef at all and its good to see a pasta dish without beef in it for once. This sounds so super easy and I gotta hand it to ya, the pizza sauce is a great idea too. Thanks you! I'm going to make cut the recipe in thirds and try it tonight. I really like that you have fresh spinach in it. AWESOME RECIPE!

Sounds like the perfect potluck dish for a crowd - I like the use of pizza sauce rather than the usual spaghetti sauce...will have to cut this down for the 2 of us and give it a try - great comfort food!!

The Rating

Perfect, perfect and perfect!!!!!! Annie, my beau can't eat beef at all and its good to see a pasta dish without beef in it for once. This sounds so super easy and I gotta hand it to ya, the pizza sauce is a great idea too. Thanks you! I'm going to m...more